A Brief Introduction

Making leather is a tradition that goes back for time immemorial. In the beginning, man would use the skins of his hunt and livestock to create clothing and tens. This rudimentary leather making process would be the beginning of a tradition that last until today where the leather tanning process has been refined to near perfection by companies like Copper River Bags (you can read more about how process our leather right by following this link). Although the technology has changed and continues to evolve throughout the year- there is no doubt that leather offers a unique durable material.

In the early twentieth century during the industrial era faux leather was created. At this point in the development of faux leather, it had a distinct smell and rigidity which made it hard to work with. When it was first invented it was hardly used until the 1960’s when a company called Dupont invented a way to produce faux leather. All they did was insert small holes in the leather to make the material more malleable and breathable, so that people could use it for clothes, furniture, etc. It would grow in popularity over the next few decades do its affordability as well as being easy to manipulate.

Why Use Faux Leather?

The only two real reason to use faux leather is the cost and morals. Obviously Faux Leather has a lot cheaper up-front than real leather. All we really need to make faux leather is petroleum which, for now, the world has in abundance. Since it is so cheaply made it requires less maintenance and care. In the end though replacement costs do add up.

The other obvious reason is that some people take issue with wearing something made from an animal. We can’t really comment on this other than different strokes for different folks. It certainly isn’t our place to tell people what is wrong and right! We have to say though it isn’t going to stop us from using and enjoying our art.

But There is A Third Fake Reason

A lot of people will claim that they will not use the leather due to environmental issues. I guess you could say this falls under another moral issue, but here is thing, when one takes into consideration faux leather versus regular leather, faux leather actually has a higher environmental impact than just regular old leather. A lot of people don’t believe us when we try to make this case, so let us explain. Although, we encourage you to investigate yourself if you’re curious. I guess you could say listening to a company that makes leather about the positive of leather is like going to a roofer to ask if you need a new roof, BUT we’ve tried to be as fair as possible in our assessment!

Basically, there are a couple of clichés you can refer to two discern why faux leather isn’t all that great. One, “you get what you pay for”. Leather products, especially high quality ones as found at Copper River Bags, simply last longer. Our products are even guaranteed by our company name to last up 100 years, but we’re fairly confident some may last longer. The simple fact of the matter is when you buy a product that is of value like one made of leather, it is going to last longer. You’ll just have to hold up your part of the bargain of keeping it around for a lifetime, which is not always easy for people who are used to disposable items made of materials like faux leather.

When you invest in cheap materials like “pleather” of “faux leather” you are getting a product that is second rate. It is simply not going to last as long as a leather product would, and it’ll end up in the landfill. Given the type of materials that are in fake leather, it’ll likely take a really long time to break it all the way down. This means that not only are you not getting much use out of something that took a lot of energy to make, but you are also helping clutter the world with more trash!

In addition, there is one environmental impact that you not consider. The material fake leather products is made of usually contains a nasty chemical known as PVC (polyvinyl chloride). This compound contains chemicals that have been related to all sorts of health ailments to people using the product and those around the product. This means that you are improving your most intimate environment: your body!

The last thing to consider is which process actually takes up more energy and hurts the environment most. All we can say to this is that factory made fake leather products use farm more irreplaceable resources than any leather tanning operation that we know of out there. Copper River Bags has a little bit of an edge on many leather and fake leather companies out there, because all of our items are not factory made. Rather they are made in small workshops in the United States where less energy and less materials are wasted than would ever be possible in a factory setting.

In Conclusion

There is no one set right answer for everybody, we get that. However, as a leather company that truly cares about the quality of our product, our workers and the longevity of leather, we thought we should take a stance on the matter of leather. As mentioned earlier, leather tanning is a tradition that goes back to pre-history, and it would be a shame to see it arbitrarily be pushed to the side. When you invest in Copper River Bag products, you are investing in the upholding of a tradition that goes way back. In addition, you truly aren’t having a negative impact in the world; in fact, some may argue you are leaving the world a better place!